The Little River Rail Road in Doc Tom's Back Yard

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
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Pullman green was a standard color for a lot of railroads. It was certainly the color for the Southern Heavy weight steel coaches.


I'm going with that look for the Little River Combine this is what I got so far.

I have repainted the coach body, roof and baggage doors. The jury is out on weather I will paint the interior. the windows have yellowed considerably. If I can clear them up with some cosmetic tricks, then I may do some painting of the interior details that are quite good.


Bill Nelson
 

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Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Pulman Green Combine

Bill,

Looking good! The combine does have a good bit of interior detail. None of this was visible when the car was fully aged as in this picture.

Thanks for what you are doing to get some nice rolling stock on to the LRRR.
Doc Tom:thumb:
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Tests have shown the yellowing is throughout the glazing material, and not just on the surface , so the restoration trick we used on old auto headlights that discolored won't work. I will have to study the glazing a little more. it might not be as bad now as it was before, as the inside of this car was filthy, with debris from bugs, as well as what looked like vegetation compost .


So far, this has been a fun project, I might have to do the red coach and combine next!


Bill Nelson
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Getting the yellow out

Bill,

What trick did you guys use to get the yellow out of sun damaged clear plastics???

I never knew that was possible.

On this combine could the glazing be replaced with glass microscope covers? I might be able to get those at work. Maybe a sheet of clear plastic from my large scale hobby shop......Lowes?

Thanks again for all you are doing.

Tom
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
The process was to wet sand the faded plastic headlight assemblies with very fine sand paper and then clear coat them.


I will study several options, the fit of the original glass will be better than anything as they are molded to protrude into the window openings.


Bill
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
The process was to wet sand the faded plastic headlight assemblies with very fine sand paper and then clear coat them.


I will study several options, the fit of the original glass will be better than anything as they are molded to protrude into the window openings.


Bill

That is an interesting repair process.

In regards to "original glass" is the original part still available??

On the locomotive front the Shay returns in about 1 week with all its repairs including An "up grade" of the sound system. Apparently you can download all types of locomotive sounds from the Phoenix site and load them into the sound system memory. Don Sweet has gotten a new sound for the beast after our Bush Beans reference previously.....should be interesting.

Maybe if it gets a little cooler you and tyler can come by for" Bachmann Shay II the return of the beast."


Thanks again for all you are doing to get some rolling stock for the RR.

Tom
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
combine progress

I have made some more progress on the combine.


I still need to evaluate the 9 volt battery box in the tool box under the car, and see if it is in working condition. If it is I need to see if my Led's work off of 9 volts. if they do then I will try to retrofit the car's lighting to an LED system. Otherwise the lighting will probably be abandoned for now.



I can't find the glazing for the baggage doors and that is driving me nuts. I'm about ready to give up looking and take a nap.


Bill Nelson
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
I woke up from my nap, and went to look on my workbench. I had cleaned it down to the bottom level of debris, without discovering the glazing for the baggage doors. careful study of bottom level of debris showed parts of St Steven's in Harlow Tn., parts of the engine house / shops building in Crooked Creek, and lots of scrap and pieces leftover from the pointless nostalgic renovations to two 4-4-0's and a 2-4-0. (pointless because no mater how much better I get them to run they will be nearly useless on my Valley division and at the club, and completely useless on my mountain division; nostalgic, as one of these locomotives have been in service 44 years, and two others closely resemble locomotives that were in service at that time.)


I had a rare thought, seeing the locomotive pieces, and opened one of the plastic storage boxes I use to hold locomotive parts; and there was the glazing for the sliding baggage doors.)


I have located a 9 volt battery, now I just have to locate the led strips I got from Auto zone!


Bill Nelson
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
I woke up from my nap, and went to look on my workbench. I had cleaned it down to the bottom level of debris, without discovering the glazing for the baggage doors. careful study of bottom level of debris showed parts of St Steven's in Harlow Tn., parts of the engine house / shops building in Crooked Creek, and lots of scrap and pieces leftover from the pointless nostalgic renovations to two 4-4-0's and a 2-4-0. (pointless because no mater how much better I get them to run they will be nearly useless on my Valley division and at the club, and completely useless on my mountain division; nostalgic, as one of these locomotives have been in service 44 years, and two others closely resemble locomotives that were in service at that time.)


I had a rare thought, seeing the locomotive pieces, and opened one of the plastic storage boxes I use to hold locomotive parts; and there was the glazing for the sliding baggage doors.)


I have located a 9 volt battery, now I just have to locate the led strips I got from Auto zone!


Bill Nelson

Bill,

Thank you for all this hard work for the LRRR. That is a very nice model and the paint job and repairs are really dressing it up nicely.

Looking forward to seeing more progress.
Tom
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
A project found!

Looking for parts for the L R combine I found an incomplete kitbash from long ago.


I had taken two Bachman bobber cabooses, and cut them into little pieces that I was reassembleing to make a combine caboose. now somewhere there is a box of hardware for or from this project, including platform steps, ladders , railings, roof walks ect. where that is I have no Idea. I thought it might be in with my Goose project box, but that was not the case.


Bill Nelson
 

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Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Looking for parts for the L R combine I found an incomplete kitbash from long ago.


I had taken two Bachman bobber cabooses, and cut them into little pieces that I was reassembleing to make a combine caboose. now somewhere there is a box of hardware for or from this project, including platform steps, ladders , railings, roof walks ect. where that is I have no Idea. I thought it might be in with my Goose project box, but that was not the case.


Bill Nelson

Very cool. That will be an interesting project for you to complete. I like the coloring on the "bash"....nice paint job.
Tom:thumb:
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Very cool. That will be an interesting project for you to complete. I like the coloring on the "bash"....nice paint job.
Tom:thumb:[/quote


Thanks tom. the Bobbers were an ugly red, and lettered for the Santa Fe, which makes a lot of sense on a narrow gauge bobber. This coat of paint was put on to cover up everything, and it would make a good weathered wood treatment, except a lot of the panels broke out, and had to be glued back in, and this shows in some places; so it will need more paint. If I do some work on this, I guess I need to plank the floor, so I can design how the body attaches to the floor. I can only find one archbar truck (looks like a bachman design) so if there is a orphan archbar truck in your loot, I could use it.


Bill
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Lots of Orphans

Hey Bill, we gots lots of orphaned Arch Bar trucks. You are welcome to as many as you need.

Thanks for all you are doing!!!!


Tom
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Good news and bad news!

Good news and bad news on the lighting front. First I tested some of the LED's I have been working with with a 9v battery , and they worked fine. Then I popped a 9v battery in the battery box under the floor of the combine that is disguised as a tool box. the battery holder was free of corrosion, and I tested the contact strips on the floor that conduct electricity to the strips on the wall that get the power up to the wires in the clerestory roof. I had 9V there, so far so good. I went to the switch under the floor that should be able to turn off the power to the lights, and it is rusted in the closed position, so the lights, as designed, can't be turned off.



Earlier I had tried to unscrew the top and bottom floor sections to help in the repainting, bur some of the screws are rusted in solid. so replacing the switch in it's factory position is too much trouble to be worth it, as the rusted screws will strip out before they come loose, and drilling a rusted screw is not an option as the plastic will melt.

I'm thinking the garden railroad will be operated at twilight and at night, so the light combine would be cool, so here is my so far, falf baked idea. The combine freight doors open and close; so I can make a crate, and permanently mount it on the floor of the baggage section next to a door. I could mount a switch on the side of the crate so it could be accessed through the open baggage door without being too obvious.


All I have to do is to figure out how to route the wires to allow the coach to be assembled/disassembled, and still have the wires as invisible as possible. Maybee this won't be ready next monday!


Bill Nelson
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Good news and bad news on the lighting front. First I tested some of the LED's I have been working with with a 9v battery , and they worked fine. Then I popped a 9v battery in the battery box under the floor of the combine that is disguised as a tool box. the battery holder was free of corrosion, and I tested the contact strips on the floor that conduct electricity to the strips on the wall that get the power up to the wires in the clerestory roof. I had 9V there, so far so good. I went to the switch under the floor that should be able to turn off the power to the lights, and it is rusted in the closed position, so the lights, as designed, can't be turned off.



Earlier I had tried to unscrew the top and bottom floor sections to help in the repainting, bur some of the screws are rusted in solid. so replacing the switch in it's factory position is too much trouble to be worth it, as the rusted screws will strip out before they come loose, and drilling a rusted screw is not an option as the plastic will melt.

I'm thinking the garden railroad will be operated at twilight and at night, so the light combine would be cool, so here is my so far, falf baked idea. The combine freight doors open and close; so I can make a crate, and permanently mount it on the floor of the baggage section next to a door. I could mount a switch on the side of the crate so it could be accessed through the open baggage door without being too obvious.


All I have to do is to figure out how to route the wires to allow the coach to be assembled/disassembled, and still have the wires as invisible as possible. Maybee this won't be ready next monday!


Bill Nelson

Hi Bill,

Again thank you for all this hard work on the garden log hauler.

How abouts I just take out the 9V battery when the sun comes up and put it in for nighttime running??? Sounds like a simple switch to me.
Tom
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
an idea

I had an idea that would let me retain the body /floor contacts, and add a switch.

I could put double sided duct tape on one of the contacts, and stick a piece of brass onto the contact. I count hook a wire to the contact and one to the piece of brass, and hook them both to a switch.

now to design a crate. I once had some plastic crates in a kit, did they make it into your loot, or should I look for them here?


Bill
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
I had an idea that would let me retain the body /floor contacts, and add a switch.

I could put double sided duct tape on one of the contacts, and stick a piece of brass onto the contact. I count hook a wire to the contact and one to the piece of brass, and hook them both to a switch.

now to design a crate. I once had some plastic crates in a kit, did they make it into your loot, or should I look for them here?


Bill

Hi Bill,

I think I remember seeing those. I will have to search the "G scale" stuff and see what I can find.

Thanks for your creativity.
Doc Tom:thumb:
 

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Doctor G

Well-Known Member
I hate to burst your bubble on this, but after a little cruising around I found the Shay you were looking for... and it's on sale!

http://www.micromark.com/BACHMANN-S...LOCOMOTIVE-WITH-SOUND-LITTLE-RIVER-,6892.html

Tyler
Hi Tyler,

Yes, I had seen that these were coming out. That is also a very good sale price at Micro Mark.

On the G scale forums this particular locomotive with sound is plagued with all kinds of electrical glitches coming out of the box.........much like mine. Fortunately B.mann and the RC/battery installer I am using have very good warranties.

I am learning that the novice Large Scale train nut really has to learn to "field strip" his locomotive (just like in the Army!!!) gut the wiring and redo it all. I was amazed at this at first but am slowly learning how these beasts go together and how to modify them.

What B.mann does provide is exquisite detailing at a very cheap price and good electrical motors (three in the Shay) and ,recently, good gearing to make for a smooth runner once the electrical stuff is corrected.

The guy who is doing the repairs on my Shay is downloading a new Shay sound to put in the Phoenix system. I had told him you guys were less than enthusiastic about the sound at the inaugaral run.

Hope to have the engine back here soon.
Doc Tom:cool:
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
LRRR #1 works the "crib" at Three Forks above Townsend TN.

Despite the near 100 degree temps work continues on the Little River Railroad.

The crews have finished the cribbing at Three Forks just above Townsend where the Little River splits in to three "prongs" and the train track dutifully follows.

Here we see in these vintage shots LRRR #1 working a mixed train over the substantial cribbed main line heading in to the mountains on its way to Elkmont up one of the prongs.

Once rock is added to the cribbing it becomes an extremely strong structure that can handle the load going up grade.

Doc Tom:wave:
 

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